Did You Have to Ask?
by ObsessedHPFanatic
Summary: My response to the challenge "Truth or Dare...with a little Veritaserum!"  Humor and angst...  It's interesting all right!  Sequel to be out soon!


**Author's Note: This is in response to the "Truth or Dare….with a little Veritaserum Challenge". I hope you like it! I know I normally have a bunch more to say... Don't worry! It's at the end this time! :)**

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><p><em>Did You Have to Ask?<em>

I sat a little apart from the group of girls surrounding Neville. I was proud of him. He had killed Voldemort's snake with Gryffindor's sword. The poor snake didn't know she had been taken over using Wrackspurts to clear her head and make it easy for Voldemort to possess her. But apparently the act was brave, because Neville had been able to use the sword. I had helped Harry escape from his adoring fans recently. He had needed some space. Wrackspurts tend to congregate around large groups of people. I had warned Neville of this shortly before he had been surrounded. I saw a boy that I recognized as Lee Jordan approaching me. "Hi, are you Luna? Sorry, it's been a hectic few years and I'm not the best with faces… or names. I'm Lee from the D. A. if you didn't recognize me."

"Yes, did you need something?" I asked pleasantly.

"I'm just down and wanted somebody to talk to about anything besides this bloody war."

He certainly looked upset. I quickly thought through all of the people he might have been upset about the death of. Fred Weasley. "Of course! Didn't you use to commentate for the Quidditch games?"

He grinned, "Yeah. Those were the good days, you know?"

"Why did you come to me?"

"I remembered you were pretty easygoing. And…"

"And that I was Loony Lovegood," I smiled. "The nickname doesn't bother me. If you didn't know me or didn't read the Quibbler, you would think that I was loony."

"Why is that?"

"Well, most people don't believe in Wrackspurts or Nargles or the Rotfang Conspiracy."

Lee chuckled, "What are Wrackspurts?"

"Wrackspurts are small flying creatures that fly into your head and make your brain go fuzzy. They're attracted to large groups of people," I paused and gestured to the throng around Neville, "That group's probably full of them. I don't know for sure because I don't have my Specter Specs, but it's very likely."

"Specter Specs?"

"They help you see Wrackspurts. My father sells them, if you want a pair?"

He smiled, "Maybe so, Luna. So what are Nargles?"

"Nargles tend to hide in plants, especially mistletoe."

"What do they do?"

"I'm not exactly sure. I've only been under mistletoe once."

"You mean you've only been kissed once?"

It was my turn to laugh, "No, no. I've never been kissed. I warned Harry of the Nargles in them once, though."

"You've never been kissed?"

"Does this surprise you?"

He looked embarrassed, "Well, yes, a little bit."

"Why?"

"You… You're not unattractive, Luna."

I smiled, "Thank you, Lee. But you don't have to say something you don't mean."

Confusion spread across his face, "What do you mean? Do you think you're unattractive?"

"I've never been told so before, but I've never been told I was attractive, so I thought I was average. My looks don't matter to me though. I wouldn't be able to gauge if I was pretty or not."

He stared at me, wide eyed. "Most people don't say nice things about me," I elaborated.

"Well, you are a little unusual, but we all have our quirks! And you really are attractive, Luna. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."

I didn't think I had ever blushed because of something a boy had said before, "Thank you for your honesty, Lee."

Someone somewhere behind us squealed, "Lee! Hi!"

"Parvati?" A smile blossomed on his face.

He stood and was nearly tackled by Parvati Patil. I knew Parvati through her twin sister, Padma and the D.A. I hoped Padma was still with us. "Hello Luna!" she smiled.

"Hi, Parvati. Where's Padma?"

"She's with Cho. They're in the group surrounding Neville," she laughed.

The corners of my lips turned up. "So how have you been, Lee?" she asked, engaging him in conversation.

"I've been better."

"I have an idea of what we could do for some fun! I think we all deserve it!"

"Can Luna join us?" Lee said, glancing at me.

Surprised, I looked at him.

"Of course! I meant to say 'what we could_ all_ do.' It'll be so fun! There's this muggle game called Truth or Dare, but they might lie. I think we should all take some Veritaserum before we play!"

"Where are we going to get Veritaserum?" Lee asked.

Parvati winked and pulled a small vial out of her robes. "I should have known," Lee smiled, rolling his eyes. "I'm in, Luna?"

"I suppose…" I replied hesitantly.

"Come on, Luna! It'll be fun! But I think we should grab someone else, for variety's sake," Lavender suggested.

She glanced around the Great Hall. "Blaise is sitting alone. Let's see if he wants to play."

I got to my feet and followed Parvati and Lee. I was included, but somehow felt excluded. "Hi Blaise!" Parvati greeted.

He raised his eyebrows, "Hello."

"Would you like to have some fun?"

"Why are you asking me? Don't you have some Gryffindor friend to ask?"

"You were sitting alone," she said simply.

He sighed, "If I say yes, what would I be doing?"

"We're going to be playing Truth or Dare."

"That muggle game? Yeah, right, I'll definitely play," he rolled his eyes.

"We'll be playing with Veritaserum."

That spiked his interest, "You have Veritaserum? Let me see it and I just might take you up on your offer."

Parvati pulled out the little bottle once more. Blaise looked at it intently. He stood and gestured for Parvati to go ahead of him. A wide grin spread across her face and she led the way out of the Great Hall. I'm sure we made a strange party, two Gryffindors, a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin. We received several stares as our group left. I smiled slightly and fell into step with Blaise, "Hello."

"Hello."

"I'm Luna Lovegood."

"Blaise Zabini."

"What's the matter?"

He looked at me in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"I mean you seem perturbed. What's the matter?"

"What makes you think I'm perturbed?"

"Daddy says I'm intuitive," I smiled.

"Here we are!" Parvati announced, breaking off our conversation.

The group of four stood in front of a blank expanse of wall. "What kind of trick is this?" Blaise asked. "Are you telling me we're going to play in the hallway?"

"No, of course not, silly! We're going inside!" Parvati said as she began her pacing.

Blaise stared at me, "Going inside _where_?"

I laughed, "You'll see."

The door appeared as Parvati passed the wall for a third time, "Let's see how it turned out!"

Parvati had asked for a smaller room with plenty of open space and four comfortable armchairs. Everything looked a bit singed, however. "Why is it all…burnt-looking?" Parvati wondered, "Oh well! That can be fixed!"

With a few waves of her wand the room was in full repair. Parvati settled into one of the chairs and signalled that Lee, Blaise and I do the same. She took the vial out for a third time, "Each of us only needs three drops. Be careful!"

Parvati went first, tapping the bottle three times. Lee followed her and passed it to me. Our hands touched in the transfer. My face burned. I turned away so he couldn't see my face as I took my three drops. I gave it to Blaise, who in turn returned the vial to Parvati. "Does everyone know the rules?" she asked as she tucked the Veritaserum away.

Blaise nodded. "Not exactly," Lee said, sheepishly.

"Basically you choose a person and ask them "Truth or dare?" The person will answer and if they say truth, you have to ask a personal question. If they say dare, you have to dare them to do something they probably wouldn't do otherwise."

"Sounds easy enough," Lee replied.

"I'll start!" Parvati volunteered.

There were nods all around. "All right, umm… Luna! Truth or dare?"

I thought for a few moments, "Dare."

"Let's see… I dare you to… Do the most flexible thing you can."

"I'm really, really not flexible, but all right!"

I stood and touched my toes. "That's it?" Parvati laughed.

"I told you I wasn't flexible!" I smiled.

She rolled her eyes, but the gesture was friendly, "Your turn, Luna!"

"Okay, Blaise. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," he answered almost instantly.

"What do you want to be when you have your N.E.W.T.'s?"

"Oh, come on, Luna! Think of something more personal!" Lee teased.

"All right, but the only other thing I can think of is what form is your patronus?"

"Try something like 'Who do you _like_?'" Parvati suggested.

I sighed, "All right. Blaise, who do you _like_?" I remembered to add the emphasis on the word 'like.'

He blushed, "It's too late to back out now, isn't it?"

Lee laughed, "Yeah, mate. You're pretty much stuck until you say it."

"Until very recently, nobody."

'That's not enough of an answer!" Parvati nearly shrieked, "Who is it?"

Blaise mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that, Blaise?" Lee joked, "I don't think everybody could hear you!"

"Luna," he muttered.

The room went dead silent. All of the blood in my face raced down to my heart which started beating wildly. Blaise _liked_ me? We had only just met! Then I thought of my feelings for Lee. They had developed in about the same amount of time, or so I thought. "Well _that _certainly makes things interesting!" Parvati giggled, glancing between the two of us.

Blaise was extremely embarrassed. He looked uncomfortable and kept shifting in his seat. "I told you this was a fun game!" Parvati said, excitedly.

"Fun for you," Blaise sighed, "Pavarti. Truth or dare?"

"Truth, please!"

"Who do _you_ like?"

Parvati blushed, "How did I know that was going to happen? All right, it's Neville."

"Neville? Really?" I asked, surprised.

"Can I lie?"

"How long have you liked Neville?"

"Since the beginning of this year," she sighed dreamily, "He's so… sexy when he takes charge."

I had noticed the change in Neville's behavior, of course. I suppose I had vaguely noticed the change in his appearance, but I had never found it interesting enough to give notice to. Neville and I were friends, but he was much too prone to Wrackspurts for me.

"Anyway! I choose Lee. Truth or dare?"

"I'm going to go with Luna on this one. Dare," Lee chuckled.

"Hmm… I dare you to… Whip off your shirt and run past everyone in the Great Hall as you run and get us some butterbeers!"

"Are you sure you want the butterbeers? Or are you just trying to trick me out of my shirt?" he teased, shrugging off his robes and beginning to unbutton his shirt.

My heart was pounding even more than when Blaise had admitted his feelings for me. Lee's dark chest slowly appeared. "No, no!" Parvati squealed, "I meant you had to take it off as you ran through the Great Hall!"

"Ah. I can do that too!" he replied, redoing the undone buttons.

He stood and stretched, "Well? Are you guys coming?"

The three who had been sitting got to their feet and followed Lee out of the Room of Requirement.

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><p>We returned a few minutes later, shaking with laughter. Lee had made quite a show of his dare, ripping his shirt open and whooping as he raced between the tables. "That was the most bloody fun I've had since before this war!" Lee chuckled.<p>

I smiled and shook my head at him. "A toast to Parvati for suggesting we play this wonderful game!" Lee suggested, holding up his freshly opened butterbeer.

"To Parvati!" Blaise and I agreed.

Parvati blushed, but touched her bottle to the other three. "I believe it was my turn, then?" Lee asked after he had had a large swallow.

I nodded, hoping he wouldn't pick me. "Hmm… Blaise. Truth or dare?" Lee said.

"Truth didn't help me much last time, did it? But to be safe, I'll pick it again."

"Why do you like Luna?"

Blaise took a deep breath and made to speak before thinking better of it and taking a long drink of butterbeer, "I like Luna because she is intuitive, intelligent and beautiful."

No one besides Daddy had ever spoken so kindly of me. "Awww!" Parvati cooed, "How sweet!"

Blaise moved as though he wanted to turn to me, then looked away. He coughed and said "Pavarti. Truth or dare?"

"Let's see. Truths are so much fun, but a dare would be exhilarating. I'll take dare!"

"I dare you to… Down an entire bottle of butterbeer in one go."

"Tipsy Truth or Dare! Even better!" she grinned, "Pass me a bottle, then!"

I watched in amazement as Parvati opened the bottle, put it to her lips and gulped the contents of the butterbeer in quick succession. "Phew!" she said, eyes watering, "That stuff is strong in large doses! Anyway, Lee! Truth or dare?"

"Truth this time, please."

"If you had to kiss someone in this room, who would it be?"

He paused, "Is there any way I could get a different question?"

"Are we all that nauseating?" Blaise teased.

"No, of course not, Blaise, didn't you know I was madly in love with you?" Lee joked, pretending to swoon.

"Answer the question, Lee!" Parvati giggled.

"I would kiss you."

My jovial expression faded a little. "And who is you?" Parvati asked tipsily.

"You is… Luna."

Blaise's expression darkened. I forced myself not to look too ecstatic. "And here I was thinking it was me!" Parvati hiccupped, "You know, Dean once called me on of the prettiest girls in our year? Why is that not applying now!" she pouted.

Lee smiled, leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Better?"

Parvati laughed, "I was joking, Lee."

"I know, I know. Let's see, Luna. Truth or dare?"

I was determined to stay away from truths. I didn't want to answer the 'Who do you like?' question. "Dare."

Lee paused, eyeing me quizzically, "What do you think Luna should have to do, Parvati?"

"No fair!" Blaise exclaimed, "You can't team up!"

I noticed that he seemed a little tipsy too and glanced down to see he was on his second bottle of butterbeer. "Fine, fine," Lee chuckled, "I dare you to wear this for the remainder of the game!"

"Wear what? Daddy knows a colony of wizard nudists, but I have no desire to join them."

"Hold on, hold on," he said as he did a fancy bit of wandwork.

"It's not really my style."

"So? It's a dare! It doesn't have to be your style!" he smiled as he handed the dress to me.

"I don't know about this…"

"Come on, Luna!" Parvati insisted.

I sighed, "Nargles are attracted to dark colors."

"You can explain Nargles to us when you get back from changing!"

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><p>I looked at myself in the mirror, thoroughly embarrassed. The navy dress was short, tight and strapless. I had arranged my hair to cover the portion of my chest that the dress exposed. I was extremely grateful that my hair was long.<p>

I opened the door of the tiny bathroom that adjoined with our game room. Lee and Blaise were staring at me. "Luna! You look fantastic!" Parvati squealed.

I blushed, "Thank you. Must I wear this for the rest of the time, Lee?"

"Wha-? Oh, yes, yes you do." he answered, sounding punch drunk.

"What is it?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Did I put it on wrong?"

He shook his head almost violently, "No, you're-it's beautiful."

I eyed him quizzically. Something about him had changed, although I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I settled myself in my chair, trying to pull my dress down but being careful to not pull it off my chest. "Parvati. Truth or dare?"

"I think I'll go with truth this time, I don't want to chug a second bottle of butterbeer," she hiccupped.

"If _you_ had to kiss someone in this room, who would it be?" I tried to ask a question that fit Parvati's idea of 'personal.'

"Do I have to choose just one?" she laughed, "Both of these fine men are attractive."

Blaise ducked his head, obviously embarrassed. "Well, yeah," Lee teased, "But you've got to choose _one _fine, attractive man, darling!"

Parvati sat in thought for a few moments. "I've made my decision. I think I would prefer to kiss Lee. No offense to you, Blaise, but I think you would prefer Luna kiss you," she giggled.

Blaise threw her a scathing look. "Well it's true!" she protested.

He rolled his eyes and then glanced at me. I thought I detected a little longing in his eyes. Parvati took a sip of butterbeer and turned to Lee. "Lee, truth or dare?"

"I'll go with dare, that last one was amusing," he smiled.

"Hmm… I dare you to play a round of Spin the Bottle!"

"Spin the Bottle?" he asked, obviously confused.

"You spin a bottle and whoever the neck points to you have to kiss!" she beamed.

"Sounds fun! But where are you learning all of these muggle games?"

"I have a muggle friend back home and she loves these kinds of games."

I looked at Blaise, his expression didn't change to disgust as I thought it might have. "All right!" Lee exclaimed, rubbing his hands together, "Blaise, hand me that empty bottle?"

Blaise did and then his expression changed to disgust, "If the bottle points to me, do I have to kiss Lee?"

Parvati giggled, "Yes you do!"

Lee and Blaise looked at each other and back at Parvati, "Not happening, Parvati!" they exclaimed simultaneously.

"Oh, come on! You have to!"

Lee raised his eyebrows at her. They held each other's gaze for a long moment. "All right, _fine_. If it points to Blaise you can spin again," Pavarti consented grudgingly.

"Thank you," Lee grinned and moved from his chair to the floor.

Parvati motioned for everyone else to do the same and soon we sat in a small circle, surrounding the empty butterbeer bottle. "All right, here goes!" Lee said as he spun it.

We watched as the bottle went around and around until it slowed and finally stopped on Blaise. "Really? Wow. Ironic. I'm spinning again," Lee chuckled.

Parvati was giggling so much that she didn't notice when the bottle ceased spinning and pointed at her. "Come here, Parvati!" Lee teased.

"What?" she hiccupped, "Oh! All right!"

Lee leaned into Parvati and pressed his lips against hers. It wasn't a very long kiss, but for some reason a little stab of jealousy pricked my heart. It felt just like the sting of a Blibbering Humdinger. When they broke apart, Parvati giggled, "I think we should make it 'Truth, dare or spin! I want a chance at Blaise!"

Lee wiggled his eyebrows at Blaise, "What? I'm not good enough for you?" he faked being stabbed in the heart and fell over.

His head rested against my bare knee. I blushed, but made no attempt to move him. Parvati glanced between Lee's head and Blaise's dark expression. "Lee!" she whispered, quite loudly, "You might want to sit up…"

"Why? Luna's knee is quite comfortable!"

"Ix-nay on the omfortable-cay of the knee of una-Lay!" Parvati said, giggling.

"Why all the ig-Pay atin-Lay?" Lee chuckled.

"Umm…" Pavarti laughed, "I don't know how to say Blaise in Pig Latin."

"I think it would be aise-Blay," Lee snorted.

"You know a special breed of pigs speaks Pig Latin. You may not want to offend them; I've heard they're really aggressive," I warned seriously.

Blaise doubled over with laughter. Everybody but me was on their third butterbeer. I had barely finished half of my first. "Maybe we should put aside the butterbeers for now…" I told them.

"Aw, come on, Luna! We're fine!" Lee smiled.

"No, really, I don't think you guys should drink anymore."

"If it worries you, my love. I shall stop!" Blaise slurred and downed the rest of his bottle.

"We don't know what happens when you mix Veritaserum with alcohol!"

"Maybe it turns us into… Blubbery Hoobummers?" Pavarti chortled.

I glared at her, "Blibbering Humdingers."

"Right! That's what I said!" she hiccupped.

"You can't _become_ a Blibbering Humdinger. Nor can you mispronounce Blibbering Humdinger without them getting mad. I wouldn't be surprised if a whole swarm showed up very shortly!"

Lee sighed, "All right, Luna, I'll stop."

"Really?"

"I have a high tolerance for alcohol, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Thank you," I smiled.

"Parvati, Blaise…" he trailed away.

Parvati and Blaise were locked in a passionate kiss. Parvati was blonde and Blaise was a little longer and a little leaner. "Umm… Okay then! Let's not bother them…" Lee said as he led me into another room that had just appeared. "So, shall we continue the game?"

"Can I take this off, first?"

He winked, "Of course you can!"

I blushed furiously, "I meant, can I change? I don't want a swarm of Nargles _and_ a swarm of Blibbering Humdingers after me!"

Lee sighed, "If it's that important to you, I guess you can change."

"Thank you."

I opened the door leading into the original room and then closed it right away. "Maybe… Maybe I'll just change later…"

"What? Why?" he opened the door for himself.

Lee's jaw dropped, "I would wait, yes."

He sat on the floor across from me after closing the door and muttering, "Muffliato!"

"So you never answered my question," he said.

I considered it for a moment, "Okay. We can continue."

"Really? Great! I'll go. Luna, truth or dare?"

"Dare, please."

"Damn it! I can't think of any dares to do in here! Especially without leaving!" he complained. "I dare you to pick truth next time!"

I sighed, "All right, fine. I'll pick truth next time. So, Lee. Truth or dare?"

"Truth!" he grinned.

"What is it about this dress that suddenly makes me attractive?"

Lee's jaw dropped, "Suddenly? Luna, you have to have more confidence in yourself! You were always attractive!"

"So why make me wear this dress?"

"That's _two_ questions," he teased, "I made you wear the dress because, well, I wanted to see more of you. You're always wearing robes, and when you're not, you're wearing sweaters and long pants."

"So the dress was just a ploy to charm me out of my clothes?"

"No! No, no, no! I also wanted to show you that you _are_ attractive! Weren't Blaise and I staring at you the entire time you had the dress on?"

"What about when the dress wasn't on? Do I have to be wearing it to be attractive?" I asked indignantly.

"Of course not!" Lee insisted.

"That's what you're making it sound like."

Lee groaned, "I'm really bad with words."

Then he did something totally unexpected. Lee leaned in and kissed me.

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><p>I was completely and utterly surprised. Lee was kissing me. <em>Lee<em> was kissing _me._ I didn't know how to respond, react, anything. He pulled away, "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, trying to clear it, "Why did you kiss me?"

"Because I'm really bad with words!" he sighed, "Don't you like me too?"

I gasped. He had said it. He had said it _first_. He liked me! "Did you even have to ask?" I smiled.

A grin spread across his face. I met his lips this time. It was a long time before I heard two words that I never expected to hear, "Oh, Fred…"

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Whoa! I did not see that coming! I smell sequel! Be looking for the next section of <strong>_**Did You Have to Ask?**_** as soon as possible! By the way, this story wasn't meant to be angsty… O.o Don't ask me why this is happening, just go with it! :D Loves to everybody who read and reviewed other stuff of mine! Feel free to review this! I'd really appreciate it! Reviews are the only good thing in my life! *swoons* Just kidding, but I really would appreciate them!**

**Author's Note again…: The Neville stuff, yeah, that was me! :D I love Neville! ^_^ (Anyway! Go Blubbery Hoobummers!) Bye!**


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